conceit

Garry explains the evening’s conceit shortly after waddling from his chair.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

That conceit ended up an unsubtle but no less effective metaphor for our new Gilded Age.

From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026

Panettiere’s grounded presence helps untether the film from its somewhat corny conceit, giving it authentic complexity.

From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026

The White House soon made the conceit almost embarrassingly literal.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

Willoughby was rare—his preference to remain behind the scenes implied the absence of vast personal conceit, a trait essential for two-penny despots.

From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee

All of Mr. Horowitz’s conceits are present here: a murder mystery within the murder mystery, winking nods at the author’s real-life career as a novelist and screenwriter, and playful experimentation with the detective-story form.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

“Gladiator II” and “Alien: Romulus” are Ridley Scott properties that heavily retread ground covered in the original conceits that inspired them.

From Salon ● Dec. 9, 2024

So what might seem like improvements or expansions — elaborate group choreography, imaginative conceits — risk straying from the emotional core that makes flamenco flamenco.

From New York Times ● Mar. 18, 2024

Awarding the show three stars, the Telegraph's Claire Allfree said the "unstable, performative nature of identity, and its analogous resonance for theatre - the ultimate con trick - are familiar conceits".

From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2024

“But she is employing the literary conceits and techniques of a novel. And the meeting you speak of has already occurred—you have been reading it for the past quarter of an hour.”

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein